Coalition Files Federal Lawsuit in Mine Debate

11/15/2018- Another lawsuit is brought forth against a pair of federal agencies regarding the approval of wetlands permits for the proposed Back Forty Mine. The Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River filed the lawsuit against the EPA and the US Army Corps of Engineers. The Coalition is seeking a review under the Administrative Procedure Act of two agency determinations related to Aquila Resource’s wetland permit application; first, whether or not Michigan should have been granted sole permitting authority over the mine and secondly, if the agencies’ decisions to withdraw their initial objections to Back Forty Permit were an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with applicable law. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in in the US District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin and any hearings in the matter have yet to be scheduled. The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers are already the defendants in a lawsuit brought by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin alleging that these agencies violated the Clean Water act by allowing Michigan to oversee the permitting process.